6 ms·

I don't care what country owns the brand as long as it is dependable and well made. Chinese products have a big stigma of being cheaply made. There are also a l

• icebraining 13y ago
  It would be great if most of the products being sold are made in your home country Why?
  • angersock 13y ago
    If nothing else, shortened supply chains mean more responsive product development, and in general help promote the general notion of localized/efficient goods production and distribution.
    • bradddd 13y ago
      To some extent yes, but advances have got to the point that spatial separation isn't nearly the handicap it used to be. Take Apple manufacturing for instance. They hardly ever carry an excess inventory.
  • weisser 13y ago
    Presumably because they would like to support people closer to home. International commerce is very important for exchange of ideas and cultures and is enriching for all involved so long as the makers of the goods aren't being exploited as is sometimes the case.
    • icebraining 13y ago
      Presumably because they would like to support people closer to home But does making most of the stuff locally really do that? By making e.g. cellphones here, you need to either pay Americans the same as Chinese workers make, or make Americans pay much higher prices for their cellphones. How does that help people closer to home? Seems like an handicap to me.
  • kitcar 13y ago
    There is a nice psychological feeling that some people feel when they are connected in some way to the manufacturer of goods which they consume. Personally, I enjoy the experience of purchasing bread from my local independent baker, as compared to purchasing a factory-made loaf at the grocery store. This doesn't necessarily mean the good has to be made in the person's home country; I think a similar feeling is derived after traveling to a brewery in another country, for example, and then drinking that same brew when you get back home. (In which case, problems like this might even been partly attributed to a lack of tourism to the exporting country!)
  • rayiner 13y ago
    Because I'd rather support the economy of Wisconsin than the economy of Chengdu. I like people in Wisconsin, can't really relate to people in Chengdu, and then there is the whole militarily adverse repressive communist regime thing. Beyond that, I have no desire to contribute to the externalization of pollution, health and safety risks, etc, that come from exporting production overseas. I think globalization is utterly ridiculous when countries are allowed to engage in a "race to the bottom" as China has by destroying its environment and poisoning its people to be more competitive against Western nations that aren't willing to do those things. I'm happy to pay a little more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/29/business/29shoe.html?ei=5007&en=dbec2f2df332295f&ex=1401163200&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position= http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/29/business/29shoe.html?ei=50....
    • cerales 13y ago
      > I like people in Wisconsin, can't really relate to people in Chengdu, ?? They're just people.
      • deleted 13y ago
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      • monkeyspaw 13y ago
        Sure, but they probably feel more a connection to people locally. This is reflected by the psychological concept of propinquity. It's a powerful influence in our world.
      • deleted 13y ago
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      • rayiner 13y ago
        Sure, but let's make no mistake: the people in Chengdu don't buy into this silly idea that they should care as much about the people in Wisconsin as they do about their neighbors just because "everyone is just people."
        • CamperBob2 13y ago
  • sliverstorm 13y ago
    I take it as sort of an extension of "looking out for number one". Your local community is the closest extension of that, and buying local keeps the money local.
• micmcg 13y ago
  People pay lip service to wanting to buy locally made, but they don't vote with the only thing that matters, the willingness to pay more. As long as consumers demand the absolute lowest price, regardless of the exploitation required to achieve it, things will be made in poorer countries with an impoverished workforce.
  • icebraining 13y ago
    In a marxist perspective, workers in the developed countries are being exploited too. In a free market perspective, Chinese workers are choosing to leave their farms and go to factories because it's a much better alternative for them, which has raised their wages and standards of living as a whole. What exploitation are you referring to?
• micmcg 13y ago
  Prices are never going to be matched, and why should they? Things made in China are cheap simply because they have a huge population of people desperate to work, so they can exploit this and pay them a fraction of an American salary and have them work under much worse conditions. Until you are prepared to work for the same money in the same conditions, don't expect the cost of something made domestically to ever be the same as if it were made in China.